


Counting Stars

by thats_vexing



Category: Atlantis (UK TV)
Genre: Jagoras, M/M, spoilers for 1.06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-01-02 21:53:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thats_vexing/pseuds/thats_vexing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On nights when he couldn’t sleep, he could sit back on the window ledge and count the stars</p>
            </blockquote>





	Counting Stars

**Author's Note:**

> My first posted fanfic - ta dahhh! I was particularly fond of the all the Jason/Pythagoras heart to hearts in 1.06, so this happened. Enjoy! :)

Jason liked the city at this time of night. The air was still and stagnant, and a calm passed over the street on which they lived, peacefully void without the hustle and bustle of the day. From this window, he could see down the street and beyond, to where the houses became tiny smudges against the horizon and the forest loomed like a cloud hugging close to the ground. Most of all, it was silent, but not oppressively so, with the odd scuffle that reminded him that the city was sleeping and not dead.

Sometimes, he felt so immersed in dust and heat that he couldn’t quite remember the smell after rain in London or the wail of sirens. He was slowly forgetting, what was once his home was fading into the fabled haze that had once surrounded Atlantis.

On nights when he couldn’t sleep, he could sit back on the window ledge and count the stars, back in London, you were lucky to see a handful, and one night he counted ninety-eight stars before he was disrupted by a figure emerging from the darkness.

He had just about caught sight of Pythagoras’ wide eyes and strangely prominent collarbones from the waning moonlight outside, when the other man greeted him softly. But he didn’t question him and stepped to the window, leaning on the sill and looking to the skies with an expression of tranquillity that he didn’t often see. Jason dropped to the ground to stand with him and added, “I’ve never seen so many stars before.”

Pythagoras said nothing for a moment, just gazed wondrously at the sky. The pale moonlight slipped down the planes of his face and neck like a silver lining. “I can’t say that I have been as dedicated to my studies in astronomy as I should have, but I can name a few.” He murmured, not taking his eyes off of the tiny points of light, though his eyes flickered this way and that, as if he were mapping out and cataloguing each one. Only now, with Pythagoras’ shoulder and arm pressed to his own, did Jason feel the chill in the evening. “Look.” Pythagoras leaned closer so that he could point Jason’s gaze in the right direction.

He let Pythagoras’ explanations wash over him, and wondered – not for the first time – how fortunate he was to have such good friends in a world that still didn’t make sense.

After that night, their visits to the roof became more frequent. Often, when Jason was questioning reality, mulling over how he came to be here or simply thinking too hard for the early hours of the morning, Pythagoras would join him, either as a contentedly silent companion or a waiting ear and open mind. He couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Pythagoras never judged him, he didn’t find Jason weird or ignorant, or at least didn’t show it. He was bright and forward thinking, but struggled to talk about matters of psychology and emotion. He was perhaps not as good at giving advice as he thought, but Jason appreciated the effort all the same.

On some nights they talked of their friends, Pythagoras fretted about Hercules a lot, he probably didn’t realise how much, or told stories of their past (Jason’s were slightly adapted to censor bizarre details from the future). On one memorable evening, Pythagoras caught Jason singing to himself, and that was how he found himself teaching Heartbreak Hotel to Pythagoras the triangle guy.

The night after he made the deal with Circe, Jason didn’t bother going to bed. He went straight to their window and looked at the familiar view without seeing it. The mutilated skin on his wrist throbbed and itched painfully.

He didn’t hear Pythagoras approach, but sensed him, and before he knew it Pythagoras had taken his injured wrist in both of his hands. He examined the wound and Jason let him, shivering when a cool finger ran gently along the inflamed skin. He turned back to the window, not really looking, but appreciating his friend’s presence. When Pythagoras dabbed at the wound with a type of salve that smelled horrendous but began to numb the itchiness, he hissed at the stinging pain. Pythagoras didn’t apologise, but Jason could feel him watching carefully.

“Do you think I’ve done the right thing?” He asked, so quietly he was surprised when Pythagoras eventually responded.

“I said that I would support you, no matter your decision. What you did was very brave.” He took up a strip of clean cloth that had been draped over his arm and carefully began to bandage Jason’s arm, but he seemed to be watching his friend more than his work. “Foolish, but brave.”

Jason turned to catch his eye but Pythagoras bowed his head to concentrate on knotting the ends of the bandage. “I would have done the same, for you.”

“I know you would.” Pythagoras looked up at last, he looked dejected, fearful but unsurprised. In that moment, Jason realised it wasn’t just Hercules who Pythagoras worried about.

“What’s done is done. I’ll find a way to fix this,” he said, to reassure them both.

Pythagoras gripped his shoulder and to Jason’s surprise, pulled him into a cautious, but strong hug. Jason wrapped his arms around him carefully. “You’re a good man,” Pythagoras said, muffled by Jason’s shoulder, “and an even greater friend.“

Jason held him more tightly; felt more grounded and sane than he had done for a few days. But as quickly as it had happened, Pythagoras pulled away. He left without a word or a backwards glance, leaving Jason alone to his thoughts, now with a lighter heart and buzzing mind.


End file.
